Toe Injury Pushes Vijay Shankar Out Of World Cup, Mayank Agarwal Could Replace Him

Indian all-rounder Vijay Shankar has reportedly been ruled out of the ongoing World Cup because of a toe injury and is likely to be replaced by Mayank Agarwal, said a report in The Quint. While the blow at the nets off Jasprit Bumrah hadn’t looked very serious to start with, it looks to have been aggravated.

Karnataka opener Agarwal, 28, who made his Test debut against Australia last year, has not yet played in the ODI format.

“Vijay got hit on the toe by a Jasprit Bumrah delivery once again. His situation is not great and he won’t be able to take part in the tournament. He is going back home,” a senior BCCI official told PTI.

“The Indian team management is likely to ask for Mayank Agarwal as replacement since he is an opener and also it might give KL Rahul a chance to get back to the No.4 position in case Rishabh Pant fails in the next two games,” the source said.

India skipper Virat Kohli had informed at the toss during the England game on Sunday that the all-rounder had a toe niggle and the signs weren’t too good.

“Vijay Shankar has a toe niggle, Rishabh Pant is in. He brings in a lot of fearlessness. Once he gets to 20, then he’s unstoppable,” Kohli had said.

In fact, speaking on the eve of the England game, Kohli had praised Shankar and said: “So you can’t really sit down and pinpoint things. But I personally felt that he (Shankar) looked really solid. There’s not much that needs to be tinkered with. Sometimes in cricket you just need a bit of luck to get over from 30 to 60, and then you play a defining knock for the team. He’s very close to that, and we’re very confident that he’s going to end up playing that kind of knock for us.”

It is expected that Agarwal’s name will be approved by the ICC’s tournament technical committee and the player will arrive in Birmingham and travel to Leeds subsequently.

India lost their previous match to England by 31 runs here on 30 June and will take on Bangladesh at the same venue on 2 July.

Earlier, fast bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar was ruled out for a few games with a hamstring niggle while Shikhar Dhawan was ruled out of a few games because of a thumb injury sustained during the match against Australia.